Objective:To investigate the impacts of curcumin on mice with acute lung injury induced by sepsis and its mechanisms. Methods:Mice were divided randomly into CLP,sham,curcumin,captopril,and control groups. ALI/ARDS animal models were induced by the CLP operation. The acute lung injury of these animal was assessed by measuring oxygenation index,wet/dry lung weight rate (W/D),and lung tissue histology 18 h after operation. ELISA was applied to measured the level of TNF-α,IL-1β,and IL-6 in blood whereas radioimmunity was used to investigate the change of Ang II in lung tissue and blood. Results:Compared with the CLP group,W/D rate of lung tissue decreased whereas PaO2/FiO2 increased significantly in captopril and curcmin groups (W/D:5.35 ± 0.25,5.13 ± 0.59 vs 6.08 ± 0.64,P < 0.05);(PaO2/FiO2:259.5 ± 24.2,268.8 ± 21.5 vs 194.3 ± 23.9). Both captopril and curcmin markedly decreased Ang II level in lungs and plasma of mice(lung,1.58 ± 0.16,1.65 ± 0.21 vs 2.38 ± 0.41;blood,178.04 ± 17.87,153.74 ± 10.24 vs 213.38 ± 25.44). Several inflammatory factors such as TNF-α,IL-1β,and IL-6 decreased in serum and histopathologic appearance of ALI/ARDS attenuated after captopril or curcmin treatment. Conclusion:Curcmin could protect mice from acute lung injury induced by sepsis through inhabiting inflammatory factors release and Ang II generation.